1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of wagering, particularly wagering on gaming events, especially casino card table events, and the use of modified wagering and hand play formats in promoting the play of higher wager amounts in casino wagering, especially in the play of Blackjack or Twenty-One games.
2. Background of the Art
The objective of the well known casino table card game of “Twenty-One” is for a wagering player to finish a round of play with a hand of playing cards with a sum of the total value of cards coming as close as possible to the value of twenty-one, without the player hand total exceeding twenty-one. The game is played by one or more players against a dealer with the player making an initial wager on a final outcome under the rules of blackjack, which remain fairly consistent throughout the world, and with only minor variations in different casinos or jurisdictions. Players' hands that are less than or equal to twenty-one, and exceed the value of the dealer's hand wins. All players' hands that have a lower sum than the dealer's hand and all hands that exceed the sum of twenty-one lose. Dealer and Player hands with the same total value (without the player first busting, result in ties (called a “push”). An initial two-card hand totaling twenty-one points is called blackjack, and in the absence of the dealer having a similar hand, automatically wins, without respect to the dealer's hand final; count and is often paid at odds greater than 1:1.
One conventional method of playing Twenty-One uses one or more standard decks of playing cards (a fifty-two card deck without jokers). Each card is counted according to its face value (Jacks, Queens and Kings are worth 10) and Aces are worth either one (1) or eleven (11), depending on which is most beneficial to the count of the hand. The game begins by dealing two cards to each position where a player has made a wager. The dealer or house is also dealt two cards, usually with on card exposed to view.
A player views an initial value of cards in the player's hand, views the dealer's up-card (the exposed card) and then makes decisions on drawing or not drawing further playing cards. This further drawing is done in an attempt to try and win the hand by having a higher count than the dealer's hand without busting, or allowing the dealer to bust the house hand. The player can “stand” on any count of twenty-one or less. Once the player exceeds a count of twenty-one or “busts,” the player wager is lost, whatever the ultimate point count of the dealer's hand. Usually, the dealer must hit when with a point count of less than seventeen. Normally a dealer must stand on a soft count of at least seventeen, a soft count being a hand value where an Ace is counted as a value of eleven. House rules may vary, however.
Although the game of blackjack or Twenty-one is a consistent winning game for the house, it is always desirable to entice players to increase the size of wagers so that the house wins more money on the house advantage. Players tend to place the minimum wager on a blackjack game unless the player is using some system or feels that the cards are running in a favorable streak.
Numerous methods have been considered for increasing the amount wagered by players on each hand or round of play in blackjack and other games. Side bets and jackpot wagers have been introduced, but these establish separate wagering pots or have their own distinct advantage and do not increase the amount of the wager on the underlying game. In fact, side bets tend to cause players to place minimum wagers because the odds in payouts are larger in the jackpot and side bet games, even if the frequency of wins may be less.
Other game designs have attempted to increase wagers from players on single rounds of play by providing players with multiple hands. This has been especially true in video blackjack games, with such disclosures as the following indicating the use of multiple players hands against a single dealer hand (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,954,335; 5,531,448; and 5,732,950; and U.S. Patent Publication 20030090063) or multiple dealer hands (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,959,927 and 5,154,429).
Other disclosures provide multiple player hands in live casino table blackjack game variants. These formats could also be used for video blackjack. Other formats of play vary the rules of the game to give an appearance of a differing relative advantage between a player and a dealer to attract larger wagers and longer play duration at the table.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,295 describes methods of playing card games wherein a player makes a plurality of wagers and is provided with an initial partial card hand for each wager. The player receives additional cards which the player assigns to the previously received initial partial hands. The supplemental cards provided to a player can be provided to the player all at once or one at a time. One specific method of play comprises the steps of: a) a player making at least two separate wagers; b) a dealer providing said player with at least one card for each wager made by said player and assigning said card to said wagers such that each wager has been assigned an initial partial hand; c) the dealer providing each player with a first supplemental card which said player may assign to one of said initial partial hands; and d) the dealer providing at least one additional supplemental card which the dealer assigns to an initial partial hand which has not yet been assigned a supplemental card by the player.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,888 (Lofink) describes a method of playing Twenty-One using a forty-eight card deck of cards comprising the Aces through Nines and Jacks, Queens and Kings. The elimination of only the four ten-spot cards (or any four cards having a numerical count of ten) makes card counting much more difficult for the professional card player. Preferably multiple decks, up to six decks, of these forty-eight card decks are used. The elimination of the four ten-spot cards tips the odds of the game toward the house. To make up for this difference and keep the game attractive to the players, the method of play is modified to provide liberal game rules and bonus payouts on the player's hand. The liberal game rules include allowing players to make double down wagers at any time regardless of the number of cards held by the player. Another rule allows the player to take back the amount of the player's double down wager if the player's numerical hand count does not exceed twenty-one and if the player is dissatisfied with his hand. A bonus is paid to a player if the player's first two cards are Blackjack regardless of the numerical count of the dealer's two cards. A winning hand is declared if the numerical count of the player's hand is twenty-one regardless of the numerical count of the dealer's hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,024 (Lofink) describes a method for providing a modified game of Twenty-One. The method includes removing player favorable cards from or adding player unfavorable cards to relative to a standard fifty-two card deck. To adjust the house advantage or vigorish as a result of the modification of the deck, the method of play is modified to provide one or more liberal game rules and bonus payouts on the player's hand. The combination of rule changes and deck modification can be used to approximately obtain a selected vigorish. The method of playing the game makes card counting much more difficult for the professional card player. Preferably multiple decks, up to six decks, of these modified decks are used.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,396 (Eaton et al.) describes a method of playing a wagering game with a deck of numerically valued cards includes the steps of having each player make an initial wager and dealing at least two cards to form a corresponding number of hands. Each player is asked to select an initial winning option based on how the player expects the hands to be dealt. The game further involves dealing an additional card to each of the hands until each of the hands has a count of at least a first predetermined value, such as seventeen in the case of blackjack. Any award is given to each of the players who correctly predicted how the hands would be dealt. The game method may also include the step of accepting a second wager from each of the players, simultaneously having each player who made the second wager select a second winning option based on how that player expects the hands to be dealt, and awarding the players whose second winning option correctly predicted how the hands would be dealt.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,717 (Richardelle) discloses a method of playing a card game by dealing a first hand consisting of a first predetermined number of cards. The method requires one or more players to elect whether or not to play a second hand. Each of the first hands are compared to determine whether or not they constitute a winning hand. A second hand consisting of a second predetermined number of cards is dealt. The first cards from the first hand are included in the second hand. Each of the second hands are compared using a predetermined ranking as a criterion for comparison to determine a winning hand. Each player who had a winning first hand and/or a winning second hand is then designated a winner. The first predetermined number of cards consists of two cards, and the first hand is played as a blackjack hand. The second predetermined number of cards consists of a number of cards, in addition to the cards drawn by each player for the blackjack hand, to make up a poker hand. Each player is required to place a bet before each step of dealing the first and second hands, and they are paid after the step of designating winning players. Such step of paying the winning player(s) includes the step of paying the winning player according to the odds set forth in a predetermined table depending upon the poker rank of the winning hand(s).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,416 (Jackson) describes a wagering game played with one or more standard decks of playing cards. Each deck comprises a) 52 cards or b) 48 cards without 10's. The method comprises: each player placing at least one wager to play in the game against a dealer; each player receiving two initial cards and the dealer receiving two initial cards; each player exercising optional rights to take additional cards, (hits) until the player stands with a point count of 21 or below. Alternatively, each player exercises optional rights to take additional cards until a point count in a player's hand exceeds a point count of 21. The player's hand remains in-play even after a point count in excess of 21 is obtained. The dealer takes hits according to conventional rules of blackjack so that the dealer total count according to the rules reaches at least a soft 17, at least a hard 17, or a count in excess of 21. If both the player's hand and the dealer's hand exceed a point count total in excess of 21, rules determine whether the player's hand wins, ties or loses against the dealer's hand. Hands of 21 or under always wins over a bust hand. In ties of point counts of 21 and/or below, either convention rules or special rules determine whether the dealer wins or ties the player's hand. In addition, the player may receive in excess of 3:2 for a blackjack.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,821 (Hall) describes a card game with a set of playing cards and a gaming cloth (10), the gaming cloth (10) defining an area (12) in which a dealer may deal two or more cards constituting a house hand, and a plurality of player areas. Each player area includes an area (14, 16) in which two or more hands comprised of two or more cards may be dealt to a player; areas (18, 20) corresponding to each hand for placing a bet on the hands beating the house hand; and an area (22) in which optional bets may be placed on the matching of the cards dealt to each player to specified hands. The game may provide multiple hands to a player, and a wager in addition to the wagers on each of the two hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,842 (Cabot) describes methods of playing card games. A dealer initially provides a dealer hand with a number of cards exceeding the minimum number required to play a hand. According to various embodiments, the dealer discards the excess cards during the play of a card hand. This reference is one method of shifting rules of play to increase house advantage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,915 (Groussman) describes a method of playing a blackjack game that enables a blackjack player to make a second initial wager and play a second initial hand on any deal of the cards. The layout of the table includes boxes on each player station where the wagers are placed, and card dealing areas next to each of the boxes where the hands of cards are dealt. With this layout, the dealer and player can clearly determine which cards belongs to the player's first wager and which cards belong to the player's second wager.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20030218303 describes a method and apparatus of playing a game. The game provides a player with at least one option for playing at least one round of the game in accordance with at least one advantage and/or disadvantage. For example, a player may agree to play a current round of play and/or at least one future round of play in accordance with a revised rule.
Alternative and more effective methods of increasing wager size and frequency in casino table and video or internet blackjack games are still desired. The new methods described herein may be used as a distinct game or combined with the technologies already known in the art, to which end all of the references described herein are incorporated herein by reference.